The demands of parenting can cause
considerable aggravation for families.
Parents were asked how often during
the past month they had felt that
their child was much harder to care
for than others of his or her age; how
often the child did things that really
bothered them; and how often they
had felt angry with the child. Overall,
parents of 8 percent of children
answered “usually” or “always” to at
least one of these measures of parenting
aggravation. Parenting aggravation
is noticeably lower among the parents
of children living in small rural areas:
parents of 6.7 percent of these children
report aggravation, compared
to parents of 8.2 percent of children
in urban areas.

In general, the parents of older
children and children with lower
family incomes experience more
parenting aggravation. In every age
group, rates of parenting aggravation
are lowest in rural areas. For instance,
among children up to age 5, the parents
of 6.9 percent usually or always
experience parenting aggravation in
urban areas, compared to parents of
5.7 and 5.5 percent in large rural
and small rural areas, respectively.
This pattern holds true among older
children, with the highest rates of
parenting aggravation among the
parents of children aged 12-17 years
living in urban areas (10.0 percent).

Rates of parental aggravation are
also lowest in rural areas across each
income group. Children with family incomes below the Federal poverty
level (FPL) living in urban areas are
the most likely to have aggravated
parents (14.0 percent), while children
with family incomes of 400 percent
of FPL and above living in large
rural and small rural areas are the
least likely (3.4 and 3.5 percent,
respectively).

This chartbook is based
on data from the National Survey of Children's Health. Suggested
citation: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources
and Services Administration, Maternal and Child Health Bureau. The National
Survey of Children's Health 2003. Rockville, Maryland: U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services, 2005.